ALFORD, KAILAHI PACE BLUE DRAGONS PAST WASHBURN JV

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Sophomore Tor'e Alford scored a season high and sophomore Mele Kailahi posted her second double-double of the season as the No. 20-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's basketball team rolled to a 4-0 start to the new season.

The Blue Dragons shot a season-high 11 3-pointers as Hutchinson defeated the Washburn University JV 73-56 on Tuesday night at the Sports Arena.

Blue Dragon head coach John Ontjes garnered his 398th career victory on Tuesday night.

Hutchinson (4-0) will close out the non-conference portion of the schedule this weekend in Great Bend with a Friday matchup vs. Labette and a Saturday showdown against Howard College. Both games are at 1 p.m.

Kailahi and Kali Howard both got off to fast starts with seven points each in the first quarter. The Dragons jumped out fast and led 24-11. After leading 37-24 at halftime, Alford had eight points in the third quarter to build a 59-36 lead after three quarters. Washburn outscored the Blue Dragons 20-14 in the final quarter.

Alford scored a season-high 18 points, hitting 4 of 8 from 3-point range. She tied Amanda Fessenden for 10th place on the Blue Dragon career 3-point list with 109 career treys. Alford also surpassed the career 600-point plateau.

Kailahi had 17 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. She added a season-high three 3-pointers and dished out four assists.

Sophomore Kalyn Ervin scored a season-high 11 points with two 3-pointers. Howard finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Blue Dragons hit 25 of 51 shot attempts (49.0 percent), hitting a season-high 11 3-pointers on 28 attempts. Hutchinson owned a huge 39-23 rebounding advantage, but had to overtime 20 turnovers.

Matt Hutley had a game-high 11 points while Bailey Collar and Lakyn Schieferecke had 10 points each.

Washburn hit 26 of 61 overall from the floor (42.6) percent, going just 2 of 11 from 3-point range and 2 of 4 from the foul line.